Cassette or freewheel kit or ?

[AliBaliBee73]

Having got some great advice yesterday and deciding on a Yose Power (now going for rear wheel) - I have the option of the wheel being for cassette or freewheel. I haven’t checked what I have on my bike yet , but say one kit is out of stock, can I just buy only the rear hub cogs to suit the wheel or would I need an entire new system. Are they interchangeable with the existing gears so long as the rear cogs fit the new hub?

eg my bike is freewheel but I buy the cassette style motor, all I need is a new cassette and nothing else?

thanks again.

 

[Nealh]

The two aren't compatible one the freewheel uses a screw thead and the other freehub/cassette uses splines with one as a smaller keyway to slide on the freehub body and is tightened with threaded lock ring. The latter is the stronger and easier to fit and remove.

Yes if you but freehub/cassette hub you need to buy a cassette but how many gears does your bike have ? Cassettes generally are 8 - 9 gears for older models and medium entry bikes with modern offerings now being 10 - 12 gears.
You will also need a cassette tightening tool which is about £2- £3 for hub axles so needs to have a 13mm hole in it, if the hole isn't big enough drill it out to fit ove rthe axle.

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[AliBaliBee73]

Hi there - thanks. I realise they’re incompatible at the hub end - but if I changed just the hub and cog would I need to change the rest of my gearing (crank / shifter etc). And as I have the choice and will be changing the wheel as part of the conversion , would I be best choosing the cassette version ?

thanks again.

 

[sjpt]

As long as the old and new have the same number of gears they should be interchangeable between freewheel and cassette without changing shifters etc. (Nealh was hinting that but didn't say so explicitly.)

You might need a new chain if the old chain and gears have both worn; old chain and new cogs are not a happy match. You might need a different derailleur if the new cogs have a significantly different range than the old, and to add or remove a couple of chain links.

Yes, cassette is better than freewheel in every way I can think of except price. (again as Nealh said)

 

[AliBaliBee73]

Thank you, as I have the option and they're the same price ( for the conversion kit ) - I'll go for the cassette then and hope for the best. I wish someone made it more simple for ebikes and made a 3 speed cog for the hub, even 5 would be better? My donor bike is old (probably late 90s) and has 5 on the back and the 3 on the crank, with grip shift. Thanks again for the tips. MUCH appreciated.

 

[vfr400]

Thank you, as I have the option and they're the same price ( for the conversion kit ) - I'll go for the cassette then and hope for the best. I wish someone made it more simple for ebikes and made a 3 speed cog for the hub, even 5 would be better? My donor bike is old (probably late 90s) and has 5 on the back and the 3 on the crank, with grip shift. Thanks again for the tips. MUCH appreciated.

You should check what gears your bike has first. 7 speeds or fewer, get a freewheel motor. More than 7 speeds, get a cassette motor. Cassette motors are wider than freewheel ones, which brings some slight complications when fitting, and thevmotor is often narrower, so it has a lower power handling capability.

 

[AliBaliBee73]

Thanks. Do you mean cassette motors are wider but have less power?
I’ll check the specs of the Yose Power - both cassette and freewheel versions are 350W and the same dropout spacing. But not sure if there’s a power difference.

 

[vfr400]

Thanks. Do you mean cassette motors are wider but have less power?
I’ll check the specs of the Yose Power - both cassette and freewheel versions are 350W and the same dropout spacing. But not sure if there’s a power difference.

The power is determined by the controller, not the motor. Cassette motors are typically 140mm to 145 mm between the drop-outs because they have a long cassette spline on one side. The bike has 135mm between the drop-outs. Freewheel motors are normally 135mm with a 7-speed freewheel.

Here you can see the difference between a cassette and equivalent freewheel motor. Not all motors have this much difference:

The actual motor size. cassette on the left:


This is with the side-plate on. The clutch on the right would normally be in the side-plate, like the one on the right. I didn't push the side-plate down far enough for the photo:

 

[AliBaliBee73]

Wow interesting!

as always things are not a simple case of “get A because it’s better than B”

More food for thought thanks. I’ve emailed Yose to see if the motors are the same.
Alastair

 

[Scruffydroid]

When I built my rear hub motor MTB, I used a Freewheel kit. The original unpowered wheel hub was a Cassette type.

It works perfectly, but the only issue was the Freewheel hub (wheel) was slightly wider at the axle than the Cassette version.

 

[Bikes4two]

Not wishing to overcomplicate things but in an effort for your conversion kit to go well:-
Going back to the relative width of the motor on its axle, this dimension is often referred to as the OLN (as in Over Lock Nut), so look out for this on the seller's blurb.

The first thing to consider is whether the OLN dimension on the donor bike matches that of your hub kit (but you may be able to overcome a discrepancy).

Another factor to take into account with changing sprockets, is the 'cable pull' issue. This is to do with the amount the gear cable is 'pulled' when you operate the handlebar gear shifter, which of course is translated into rear mech movement to 'dearail' the chain from one sprocket to another.

The subject of OLN and maybe adjusting your frame (cold setting) is discussed on the Sheldon Brown website HERE.

Similarly there's a great article on the 'cable pull' thing HERE.